Methods and systems for customizing skip forward functionality

ABSTRACT

In some aspects, control circuitry receives and stores a user-specified time duration to associate with a skip-forward command. When the user later issues a skip-forward command to advance playback of a media asset to a desired location, the control circuitry retrieves the stored time duration, and determines an expected overshoot value associated with the skip-forward command. The control circuitry then compensates for the expected overshoot by calculating a new location in the media asset based on both the retrieved time duration and expected overshoot value. Upon advancing to the new location, the media asset is played back in a fast-forward mode, e.g., at a speed higher than normal speed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/789,593, filed Jul. 1, 2015, now pending, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Users of entertainment systems often invoke skip-forward functionality(e.g., fast-forwarding or a 30-second skip button) to advance to adesired location in a video, or to skip over content such ascommercials, segments that the user has previously viewed, or segmentsotherwise of limited interest to the user. Current skip-forwardfunctionality is cumbersome to use, however, because the optionsprovided offer limited, if any, flexibility and because users tend tooverestimate the amount of time required to advance to the desiredlocation, resulting in the resumption of the video at a point subsequentto the desired location. This forces the user to enter additional inputsto rewind playback of the video to reach the desired location, which mayitself result in another overshoot. In short, users wishing to skip overcontent often find themselves inputting multiple commands, experiencinga relatively prolonged interruption in their viewing experience, andviewing at least some content they would otherwise prefer to skip.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems are provided herein for enabling a user to set acustom skip-forward time duration, which the control circuitry may useduring the execution of a skip-forward command. For example, in oneembodiment, the control circuitry receives and stores a user-specifiedtime duration. When the user later issues a skip-forward command toadvance playback of a media asset to a desired location, the controlcircuitry receives the command, retrieves the stored time duration, anddetermines an expected overshoot value associated with the issuedskip-forward command. The control circuitry may then compensate for theexpected overshoot by calculating a new location in the media assetbased on the time duration and expected overshoot value. Upon advancingto the new location, the control circuitry may control playback of themedia asset so that playback resumes at a speed greater than normalspeed (e.g., in a low-speed fast-forwarding mode).

In some aspects, the control circuitry may receive input, from a user,specifying a time duration to associate with a skip-forward command. Inan illustrative scenario, for instance, the control circuitry receives auser request to display a media asset (e.g., a recording of an episodeof “The Big Bang Theory”). Before the control circuitry proceeds togenerate the media asset for display on a display device, the controlcircuitry generates for display, on the display device, several optionscorresponding to durations of time selectable by the user. For example,the control circuitry presents options corresponding to durations oftime equivalent to one minute, two minutes, and five minutes. Thecontrol circuitry then receives user input, via a user input interface,selecting a duration of time associated with one of the presentedoptions. For example, the control circuitry receives a user's selectionof a skip-forward time duration of five minutes.

The control circuitry may then store the received time duration. Forexample, the control circuitry stores the time duration in storage, suchas a hard drive or memory in the user device or at a server.Furthermore, the control circuitry may associate the received timeduration with the requested (or currently displayed) media asset. Forexample, the control circuitry may associate the five-minute duration oftime with the currently viewed episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”

The control circuitry may subsequently receive a skip-forward commandfrom the user during playback of the media asset. For example, afterviewing the media asset (e.g., the episode of “The Big Bang Theory”) forthree minutes, the user may encounter a block of commercials in theplayback of the media asset. As the user may be uninterested in viewingthe block of commercials and instead may wish to continue viewing theepisode as quickly as possible, the user is able to issue a skip-forwardcommand. The control circuitry then receives the skip-forward commandfrom the user.

The control circuitry may retrieve the user-specified time durationafter receiving the skip-forward command. For example, upon receivingthe skip-forward command, the control circuitry reads data stored instorage to determine that the user-specified time duration is equal tofive minutes. The control circuitry sets the skip-forward time durationto the user-specified time duration.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry determines an expectedovershoot value. Continuing the above example, the control circuitryqueries a media guidance source to determine that the average durationof time by which users viewing the media asset (e.g., the particularepisode of “The Big Bang Theory”) tend to overshoot after invoking askip-forward command (e.g., fast forwarding) is equal to one minute. Inanother example, the control circuitry determines an expected overshootvalue based on user history associated with the user (e.g., the user'sown average amount of overshoot for similar shows or other episodes ofthe series). As will become more apparent below, control circuitry mayutilize a number of different or complimentary approaches to determinethe expected overshoot value.

The control circuitry may calculate a new location in the media assetthat is advanced from a current location based on the user-specifiedtime duration and the expected overshoot value. In the example, whilegenerating a media asset (e.g., the episode of “The Big Bang Theory”)for display, control circuitry determines that the user-specified timeduration is set to five minutes and that the expected overshoot value isone minute. The control circuitry may then calculate a new location inthe media asset by subtracting the expected overshoot value (e.g., oneminute) from the user-specified time duration (e.g., five minutes), thussetting the new location to the result of the calculation (e.g., fourminutes from the current location in the playback of the media asset).

In some embodiments, the control circuitry causes playback of the mediaasset to resume from the new location at a speed greater than normalplayback speed. For example, after the control circuitry determines thenew location (e.g., a location that is four minutes advanced in themedia asset), the control circuitry skips to the new location, andinitiates playback of the media asset in a low-speed fast-forwardingmode (e.g., at a speed twice as fast as the default speed that thecontrol circuitry uses during normal playback of the media asset).

In some embodiments, when the control circuitry determines that auser-specified time duration for skip-forwarding is unavailable (e.g.,because it has not been set for the particular media asset beingviewed), the control circuitry determines the time durationautomatically. For example, the control circuitry may determine thelast-used time duration, or it may query a stored user profile todetermine the most commonly used skip-forward time duration by thatuser. In another example, the control circuitry queries a commandexecution log to determine the time duration associated with the lastskip-forward command issued by the user. The command execution log maylist all commands previously issued by the user, such as skip-forwardcommands with associated time durations. The commands may haveassociated timestamps indicating the date and time of execution, as wellas the media assets that were playing at the time the commands wereissued. In some embodiments, when the control circuitry determines thata user-specified time duration for skip-forwarding is unavailable (e.g.,because it has not been set for the particular media asset beingviewed), the control circuitry determines a default time durationautomatically, which may have been set by the user and/or the system.For example, before the user issues the skip-forward command (e.g., whensetting up general media preferences), the control circuitry may receivea user input specifying a default time duration for skip-forwarding(e.g., five minutes), which may be different from a system default(e.g., three minutes).

In some embodiments, the control circuitry detects that a commandoriginating from a remote control is received. For example, controlcircuitry detects that the user issues a skip-forward command using askip-forward remote control button during playback of a media asset. Insome embodiments, when the control circuitry determines that the userhas not yet provided a skip-forward time duration associated for themedia asset being viewed, the control circuitry waits for further inputfrom the user before initiating the skip-forward function, e.g., aselection of a number button on the remote control indicative of thedesired time duration. The control circuitry may detect, for example,that the user selected the number five button indicating that he or shewishes to skip forward by five minutes through the media asset. Thecontrol circuitry, upon receiving the input from the remote controlcorresponding to the number button may proceed to skip forward throughthe media asset by five minutes. It is contemplated that the media assetmay continue to play until the second user input is received (indicatingthe desired skip-forward time duration), or that the media asset may bepaused as soon as the first input (the skip-forward command) isreceived. In still other embodiments, the control circuitryautomatically selects a time duration (e.g., a default time duration orthe last-used time duration) if the user fails to indicate a desiredtime duration within a particular window of time (e.g., five seconds).

In some embodiments, the media asset is displayed on one device (e.g., atelevision) while options related to the skip-forwarding feature aredisplayed and/or invoked on another device (e.g., a smartphone). Forexample, the control circuitry of user television equipment may generatea video corresponding to a media asset for display on its displayscreen, while control circuitry of a wireless communications devicereceives, using a user input interface, a user request to skip forwardthrough the displayed media asset. The control circuitry of the wirelessdevice may then generate for display on its display a skip-back buttonand a skip-forward button. In some embodiments, the control circuitry ofthe wireless device determines whether a skip-forward time duration forthe media asset has previously been set by the user. If not, the controlcircuitry of the wireless device may generate for display, on itsdisplay screen, an informative message which requests that the userprovide a skip-forward time duration for the media asset. The controlcircuitry may further generate for display a first skip-forward timeduration option (e.g., for skipping forward by one minute), a secondskip-forward time duration option (e.g., for skipping forward by fiveminutes), and a third skip-forward time duration option (e.g., forskipping forward by a custom amount of minutes). The control circuitrymay then monitor for user input selecting one of the options. Forexample, the control circuitry may detect that the user, using the userinput interface of the wireless communications device, selected thesecond skip-forward time duration option (e.g., for skipping forward byfive minutes). Once the control circuitry of the wireless devicedetermined the skip-forward duration, it communicates with the controlcircuitry of the user television equipment (e.g., via infrared, othernear-field communication path, or through an Internet connection) toadvance playback of the media asset based on the determined timeduration. Either of the control circuitries may additionally calculatean overshoot value to modify the location at which playback resumes.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry calculates the overshootvalue by determining the average duration of time by which users tend toovershoot when invoking a skip-forwarding command with the determinedtime duration. The control circuitry determines this value by analyzinga log listing the duration of each rewind operation issued by each usersubsequent to (and in close proximity to) a skip-forward command. Inthis example, the control circuitry interprets an immediate rewindoperation following a skip-forward operation as evidence of a userattempting to compensate for a resultant overshoot. In a differentexample, the control circuitry receives, from a media guidance datasource, the average duration of time by which users viewing the mediaasset tend to overshoot after skip-forwarding. The media guidance datasource may contain information based on a conducted analysis ofskip-forwarding and rewind operations, as discussed below in paragraph99.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry determines an expectedovershoot value based on data contained in a user profile associatedwith the user. The control circuitry may analyze the user profile andmay determine that the user profile contains a log of each rewindoperation which follows a skip-forward operation. Control circuitry maydetermine an expected overshoot value by averaging a set or subset oftime durations associated with rewind operations that followskip-forward operations. In a different example, the control circuitrycalculates the overshoot value based on the average overshoot associatedwith the media asset that the control circuitry is currently generatingfor display. In another example, the control circuitry, using mediaguidance data, determines that the media asset that the controlcircuitry is currently generating for display is an episode that is partof a series of episodes. The control circuitry may then determine theaverage overshoot value associated with one or more episodes of theseries. Similarly, the control circuitry may calculate the overshootvalue based on overshoot values associated with all media assets thatthe user has viewed in the past. In a last example, control circuitrycalculates the overshoot value based on the type of media asset that thecontrol circuitry is currently generating for display.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry calculates a new location ina media asset that is advanced from a current location based on theuser-specified time duration, the expected overshoot value, and thecontent of media asset at the new location. For example, whilegenerating a media asset (e.g., the episode of “The Big Bang Theory”)for display, the control circuitry determines that the user-specifiedtime duration has been set to five minutes. The control circuitry maythen determine that the expected overshoot value is set to one minute.The control circuitry may then calculate a new location in the mediaasset by subtracting the expected overshoot value (e.g., one minute)from the user-specified time duration (e.g., five minutes), thus settingthe new location to the result of the calculation. The control circuitrymay then determine whether the content of the media asset at the newlocation is a commercial. For example, the control circuitry analyzesdata associated with the media asset to determine whether the contentassociated with the new location contains a reference to a commercial.Such data may include closed caption data, audio data, visual data,metadata, and the like. The control circuitry may, in response todetermining that the new location contains a commercial, proceed todetermine a new location in the media asset by analyzing data associatedwith each subsequent location. For example, the control circuitrydetermines a subsequent location by incrementing the location by onesecond. The control circuitry may then determine whether contentassociated with the subsequent location still contains a reference to acommercial, as described above. Once the control circuitry reaches aparticular location that no longer contains a commercial, the controlcircuitry may set the particular location as the new location in themedia asset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display screen generated by amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative example of a display screen generatedby a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment of display of user equipmentdisplaying a media asset, with an overlaid input window for specifying askip-forward time duration, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6A shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying a media asset before a skip-forward operation isissued in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6B shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying an informational message indicating that askip-forward time duration has not been set, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6C shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying exemplary options for setting a skip-forward timeduration, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6D shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment after the conclusion of a skip-forward operation, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7A shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of a wirelesscommunications device used for issuing a skip-forwarding operation inorder to advance through a media asset displayed on user televisionequipment, in accordance with some

FIG. 7B shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of a wirelesscommunications device used for displaying available skip-forwarding timedurations for a media asset displayed on user television equipment, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative embodiment of a remote control used forissuing skip-forward commands, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a plot of crowdsourced data used for determining anexpected overshoot value, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in executing askip-forward operation, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determininga skip-forward time duration when executing a skip-forward operation ina media asset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determininga skip-forward time duration based on crowdsourced data, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determiningan overshoot offset using crowdsourced data, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are provided herein for enabling a user to set acustom skip-forward time duration, which control circuitry may useduring the execution of a skip-forward command. For example, in oneembodiment, control circuitry receives and stores a user-specified timeduration. When the user later issues a skip-forward command to advanceplayback of a media asset to a desired location, control circuitry mayreceive the command, retrieve the stored time duration, and determine anexpected overshoot value associated with the issued skip-forwardcommand. Control circuitry may then compensate for the expectedovershoot by calculating a new location in the media asset based on thetime duration and expected overshoot value. Upon advancing to the newlocation, control circuitry may control playback of the media asset sothat playback resumes at a speed greater than normal playback speed(e.g., in a low-speed fast-forwarding mode).

As used herein, the term “skipping forward” should be understood tocorrespond to an operation performed by control circuitry which advancesthe playback location in a media asset from a first location to a secondlocation based on a specified duration of time.

As used herein, the term “location” should be understood to correspondto a time point in a media asset. For example, a location in a mediaasset is defined based on a point occurring five minutes and thirtyseconds after the start of the media asset playback. In another example,a location is defined as a point occurring four minutes followinganother location, (e.g., the location four minutes after of the start ofthe first block of commercials in a recorded episode of “The Big BangTheory”).

As referred to herein, the term “overshoot” should be understood tocorrespond to a duration of time as measured from a location at whichthe user desires to resume playback of a media asset to the locationthat control circuitry advances to in response to a user request toskip-forward through the media asset.

As referred to herein, the term “crowdsourcing” should be understood tocorrespond to the process of collecting and extracting data from usersconnected in a network. Data collected through such an effort isreferred to as “crowdsourced data.”

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, socialmedia, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 1-2 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 1-2 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 100arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 104, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 106, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 102 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 108, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 110. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 110 may be provided inprogram information region 112. Region 112 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L. P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 114, recorded content listing 116, andInternet content listing 118. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 100 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 102. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the content listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 102. Advertisement124 may be selectable and provide further information about content,provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing ofcontent, a product, or a service, provide content relating to theadvertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on a user'sprofile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over content or a guidanceapplication display or embedded within a display. Advertisements mayalso include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other typesof content described above. Advertisements may be stored in a userequipment device having a guidance application, in a database connectedto the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming mediaservers), or on other storage means, or a combination of theselocations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application isdiscussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, IIIet al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 126 may concern features related to program listings in grid 102or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, options to set a skip-forward time, or other options.

Options region 126 may include option 128 for setting skip-forward timeduration. Selecting this option allows the user to set a skip-forwardtime for program listing 108. As will become more apparent below, theoption may be set using an input window that provides the user withmultiple options for selecting a skip-forward time duration. Once theskip-forward time is set, control circuitry may associate programlisting 108 with the skip-forward time duration.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 4. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 200, television listings option 204 isselected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 200 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 208 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 214 and text portion 216.Media portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (andspecifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplementstorage 308 or instead of storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. For example, display 312 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 310may be integrated with or combined with display 312. Display 312 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 312 may be played throughspeakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers314.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage308), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 304 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 308 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 304 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 310. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 310 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 300 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 300. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 300. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 300.Equipment device 300 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 310 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 300 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 310.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 300 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions and advertisements thatentice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated bythe score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device 300. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 418), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment of display 312 of user equipment502 showing media asset 508, with a time duration input window 504overlaid over the rendering of media asset 508. The time duration inputwindow is generated for display by control circuitry for allowing theuser to specify a skip-forward time duration, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. User equipment 502 is depicted as thedisplay 312 of user television equipment 402, but may be any userequipment device including user computer equipment 404, or wireless usercommunications device 406.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 generates for display a videocorresponding to a media asset 508 (e.g., a recording or a streamingepisode of “The Big Bang Theory”), on display 312 of user equipment 502.Control circuitry 304 may display the time duration input window 504 inorder to instruct the user to specify a time duration forskip-forwarding through media asset 508. The time duration input window504 may display selectable options allowing the user to specify askip-forward time duration. For example, the time duration input window,generated by control circuitry 304, displays a first option 512 (e.g., aone-minute time duration option), a second option 506 (e.g., afive-minute time duration option), and a third option 510 (e.g., forallowing the user to manually select the time duration).

In one example, control circuitry 304 displays the time duration inputwindow 504 after receiving the first skip-forward command duringplayback of media asset 508. As a second example, control circuitry 304displays the time duration input window 504 in response to the userrequesting start of playback of media asset 508. In another example,control circuitry 304 receives an input from the user requesting to seta default time duration (e.g., when setting up general mediapreferences) to associate with a skip-forward command for all assetsthat the user views. In a last example, control circuitry 304 displaysthe time duration input window 504 after detecting that the user hasselected option 128 for setting the skip-forward time duration.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 receives input, from a user,specifying a time duration to associate with a skip-forward command. Forexample, control circuitry 304 receives input from a user aftergenerating for display the time duration input window 504. Controlcircuitry 304 may associate the first, second, and third options 506,510, and 512 with a time duration. For example, control circuitry 304associates the depression of a key (e.g., the key labeled “5”) on aremote control keypad with a user selection of the second option 506(e.g., a five-minute time duration option), which is associated with afive-minute time duration. As will be described in further detail below,control circuitry 304 may receive input from the user through variousother means. For example, control circuitry 304 receives user inputthrough a user input interface 310 of a second device, such as awireless user communications device 405, which control circuitry 304connects to using communications network 414.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 stores the received timeduration. For example, control circuitry 304 stores the time duration instorage 308, such as a hard disk associated with a user equipment device502. Furthermore, control circuitry 304 may associate the received timeduration with media asset 508 which control circuitry 304 is generatingfor display. For example, control circuitry 304 associates an input of atime duration of five minutes with a media asset 508 (e.g., the episodeof “The Big Bang Theory”). When storing the time duration, controlcircuitry 304 may associate and store a genre (e.g., “comedy series”)corresponding to media asset 508. In a different example, the receivedtime duration may be stored in storage 308 as part of a user profileassociated with the user.

FIG. 6A shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying a media asset before a skip-forward operation isissued in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Controlcircuitry 304 may play back media asset 508 at a normal speed untilcontrol circuitry 304 detects that a user issued a command toskip-forward through the media asset.

FIG. 6B shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying an informational message indicating that askip-forward time duration has not been set, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. Control circuitry 304 may receive askip-forward command from the user during playback of the media asset508. For example, after viewing media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of“The Big Bang Theory”) for three minutes, the user encounters a block ofcommercials in the playback of the media asset 508. As the user may beuninterested in viewing the block of commercials and instead may want toreturn to viewing the episode as quickly as possible, the user may issuea skip-forward command. Control circuitry 304 may detect theskip-forward command by detecting a command entered by way of user inputinterface 310, which, in some embodiments, is a remote control whichcontrol circuitry 304 has connected to via communications network 414.For example, control circuitry 304 detects, at a first time 602 (e.g.,six minutes and thirty seconds from the start of media asset playback)that the user has depressed the button corresponding to the skip-forwardoperation on a remote control. In response to receiving a skip-forwardcommand from the user, control circuitry 304 may display a firstinformational message 622 (e.g., indicating that a skip-forward timeduration has not previously been set).

FIG. 6C shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment displaying exemplary options for setting a skip-forward timeduration, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Forexample, control circuitry 304 generates for display option 624 (e.g., aone-minute skip-forward time duration), 648 (e.g., a two-minuteskip-forward time duration), option 644 (e.g., a five-minuteskip-forward time duration), and option 650 (e.g., an option whichallows the user to set a manual skip-forward time duration). Aspreviously described, control circuitry 304 then receives a selection ofone of the available options and uses the associated time duration forsetting the skip-forward time duration for media asset 508.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 retrieves the user-specifiedtime duration. For example, upon receiving the skip-forward command,control circuitry reads data stored in storage 308 to determine theuser-specified time duration and determines that the skip-forward timeduration is set to five minutes. In some embodiments, control circuitry304 determines whether storage 308 contains the user-specified timeduration associated with the media asset currently being viewed. In someembodiments, should control circuitry 304 determine that auser-specified time duration has not been associated with the assetcurrently being viewed, control circuitry 304 determines whether storage308 contains a user-specified time duration that may be applied as adefault. For example, before the user issued the skip-forward command,control circuitry 304 may receive a user input specifying that a defaultuser time duration for skip-forwarding should be set to five minutes. Ina different example, should control circuitry 304 determine that adefault user time duration for skip-forwarding is unavailable (e.g.,because it has not been set for the particular media asset beingviewed), control circuitry 304 determines a default system time durationfor skip-forwarding. The default system time duration forskip-forwarding may be configured by the provider of control circuitry304.

In some embodiments, when control circuitry 304 determines that auser-specified time duration is unavailable (e.g., because it has notbeen set for the particular media asset being viewed), control circuitry304 determines the last-used time duration. For example, when controlcircuitry 304 queries a user profile stored in storage 308 to determinethe most recent media asset viewed by the user, control circuitry 304then determines whether control circuitry 304 had previously associateda time duration with media asset 508. If control circuitry 304determines that a time duration is not available for the asset that hasbeen most recently viewed by the user, control circuitry 304 may querythe user profile to determine the next most recent media asset viewed bythe user. Control circuitry 304 may continue this process until controlcircuitry determines a media asset with an associated time duration.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 receives a user-specifiedtime duration from a user input interface 310. For example, controlcircuitry 304 detects that a user has issued a skip-forward command on aremote control. Control circuitry 304 then monitors for a second userinput, such as a numerical input originating from a key on the numberpad of the remote control. Control circuitry 304 may set the timeduration based on the received numerical input without displayingfurther information on display 312.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines an expectedovershoot value. For example, control circuitry 304 queries a mediaguidance data source 422 using communications network 414 to determinethat the average duration of time by which users viewing media asset 508(e.g., the episode of “The Big Bang Theory”) tend to overshoot afterinvoking a skip-forward command (e.g., fast forwarding) is equal to oneminute. Control circuitry may determine this duration of time byanalyzing a log stored in media guidance data source 422 listing theduration of each rewind operation issued by each user that has viewedmedia asset 508, because a rewind operation following a skip-forwardoperation may be indicative of a user attempting to compensate for aresultant overshoot. Control circuitry 304 may maintain such a log bymonitoring for skip-forward operations and rewind operations requestedby each user viewing media assets from media content source 416. Controlcircuitry may interpret each rewind operation as an overshoot value. Inanother example, control circuitry 304 calculates an expected overshootvalue based on data contained in a user profile associated with theuser, which may be stored in storage 308. Control circuitry 304 mayanalyze the user profile and determine that the user profile contains alog of each rewind operation which follows a skip-forward operation.Control circuitry 304 may then determine an expected overshoot value byaveraging a set or subset of time durations associated with rewindoperations following skip-forward operations. As will be furtherdescribed in relation to FIG. 9, control circuitry 304 may utilizecrowdsourcing data to determine an expected overshoot value, as will bedescribed in more detail below. In a different example, controlcircuitry 304 calculates the overshoot value based on the averageovershoot associated with media asset 508 which the control circuitry304 is currently generating for display. Similarly, as will be discussedfurther in relation to FIG. 13, control circuitry 304 may calculate theovershoot value based on overshoot values associated with all mediaassets that the user has viewed in the past. In a last example, controlcircuitry 304 calculates the overshoot value based on the type or genreof media asset that the control circuitry is currently generating fordisplay, which is further discussed in relation to FIG. 12.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 calculates a new location inthe media asset 508 that is advanced from a current location based onthe user-specified time duration and the expected overshoot value. Forexample, while generating a media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of “TheBig Bang Theory”) for display, control circuitry 304 determines that theuser-specified time duration has been set to five minutes. Controlcircuitry 304 may then determine that the expected overshoot value isset to one minute. Control circuitry 304 may then calculate a newlocation in the media asset 508 by subtracting the expected overshootvalue (e.g., one minute) from the user-specified time duration (e.g.,five minutes), thus setting the new location to the result of thecalculation (e.g., four minutes from the current location in the mediaasset).

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 calculates a new location inthe media asset 508 that is advanced from a current location based onthe user-specified time duration, the expected overshoot value, and thecontent of media asset 508 at the new location. For example, whilegenerating a media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of “The Big BangTheory”) for display, control circuitry 304 determines that theuser-specified time duration has been set to five minutes. Controlcircuitry 304 may then determine that the expected overshoot value isset to one minute. Control circuitry 304 may then calculate a newlocation in the media asset 508 by subtracting the expected overshootvalue (e.g., one minute) from the user-specified time duration (e.g.,five minutes), thus setting the new location to the result of thecalculation. Control circuitry 304 may then determine whether thecontent of the media asset 508 at the new location is a commercial. Forexample, control circuitry 304 analyzes data associated with media asset508 to determine whether the content associated with the new locationcontains a reference to a commercial. Such data may include closedcaption data, audio data, visual data, metadata, and the like. Controlcircuitry 304 may, in response to determining that the new locationcontains a commercial, proceed to determine a new location in mediaasset 508 by analyzing data associated with each subsequent location.For example, control circuitry 304 determines a subsequent location byincrementing the location by one second. Control circuitry 304 may thendetermine whether content associated with the subsequent location stillcontains a reference to a commercial, as described above. When controlcircuitry 304 reaches a particular location that no longer contains acommercial, control circuitry 304 may set the particular location as thenew location in media asset 508.

FIG. 6D shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of userequipment after the conclusion of a skip-forward operation, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Control circuitry304 may generate an informative message 662 indicating that askip-forward time duration has been set for media asset 508.Additionally, control circuitry 304 may indicate that control circuitry304 advanced playback by a specific number of minutes (e.g., fourminutes). Control circuitry 304 may display indicators marking firsttime 602 and skip-forward end location 666, corresponding to the start(e.g., three minutes) and end (e.g., seven minutes) locations of theskip-forward operation, respectively.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 plays back the media asset508 starting from the new location, corresponding to skip-forward endlocation 666, at a speed greater than normal playback speed. Forexample, after control circuitry 304 determines the new location (e.g.,a location that is four minutes advanced in the media asset), controlcircuitry 304 skips to the new location. After skipping forward to thenew location, control circuitry 304 may display, at a second time 668(e.g., nine minutes and thirty seconds from the start of media assetplayback) a second informative message 688 (e.g., indicating thatplayback of media asset 508 at a normal speed may be resumed by pressingthe “play” button). Control circuitry 304 may control the playback ofmedia asset 508 so that playback occurs at a speed greater than normalspeed (e.g., a speed twice as fast as normal playback speed) until aninput from the user is received. Alternatively, control circuitry 304may continue playback of media asset 508 at the greater speed until alocation corresponding to the overshoot value offset, as measured fromthe skip-forward end location 666, and control circuitry 304 may then,without further user input, resume playback of media asset 508 at anormal speed.

FIG. 7A shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of a wirelessuser communications device 406 used for issuing a skip-forwardingoperation in order to advance through a media asset 508 displayed onuser television equipment 402, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. User equipment 706 is depicted as the display 312 ofwireless user communications device 406, but may be the display of anyuser equipment device that is separate from user television equipment402, such as user computer equipment 404.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 generates for display a videocorresponding to media asset 508 on display 312 of user televisionequipment 402 media asset 508. Control circuitry 304 may be networkedwith both user television equipment 402 and user equipment 706, usingcommunications network 414. Control circuitry 304 may receive, usinguser input interface 310 of wireless user communications device 406, auser request to skip forward through media asset 508. Control circuitry304 may then generate for display on the display 312 of the wirelessuser communications device 406, which is an example of a wireless usercommunications device 406, a skip-back button 702 and a skip-forwardbutton 704 on the display 312. In this example, wireless usercommunications device 406 is depicted as tablet equipped with a touchscreen interface embedded in display 312.

FIG. 7B shows an illustrative embodiment of the display of a wirelessuser communications device 406 used for displaying availableskip-forwarding time durations for media asset 508 displayed on usertelevision equipment 402, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determineswhether a skip-forward time duration for media asset 508 has previouslybeen set by the user. If control circuitry 304 determines that it hasnot received such a skip-forward time duration, control circuitry 304may generate for display, on display 312 of wireless user communicationsdevice 406, an informative message 722 which requests that the userprovides a skip-forward time duration for media asset 508. Controlcircuitry 304 may further generate for display a first skip-forward timeduration option 726 (e.g., for skipping forward by one minute), a secondskip-forward time duration option 724 (e.g., for skipping forward byfive minutes), and a third skip-forward time duration option 728 (e.g.,for skipping forward by a custom amount of minutes). After generatingoptions 724, 726, and 728, control circuitry 304 may detect user inputselecting one of the options. For example, control circuitry 304 detectsthat the user, using user input interface 310 of user equipment 706,selected the second skip-forward time duration option 724 (e.g., forskipping forward by five minutes). Control circuitry 304 may thencontinue the skip-forwarding process, as previously described.

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative embodiment of a remote control 802 used forissuing skip-forward commands, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. Remote control 802 is depicted as a dedicated device,but may also be implemented on any device equipped with a user inputinterface 310, such as a wireless user communications device 406.Control circuitry 304 may establish a connection between user equipment502 and remote control 802 using communications network 414. Remotecontrol 802 may include various buttons enabling a user to entercommands, such as skip-back remote control button 810, play button 804,and skip-forward remote control button 806. Remote control 802 may alsoinclude buttons corresponding to keys of a number pad, including, forexample, a number key 808 (e.g., the depression of which corresponds tothe input of the number five).

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 detects commands issued usingremote control 802 by the user. For example, control circuitry 304detects whether the user issues a skip-forward command usingskip-forward remote control button 806 during playback of media asset508. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines that the userhas not provided a skip-forward time duration associated with mediaasset 508, and thus control circuitry 304 waits for further input fromthe user before initiating the skip-forward function (e.g., a selectionof a number button on remote control 802, indicative of the desired timeduration). Control circuitry 304 may then detect that the user issuedthe command associated with the number key 808, indicating that he orshe wishes to skip forward by five minutes through media asset 508.Control circuitry 304, upon receiving the input from remote control 802corresponding to the number key 808, may proceed to skip forward throughmedia asset 508, as previously described.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 detects whether the userissues a skip-forward command using skip-forward remote control button806 during playback of media asset 508. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry 304 then determines whether a skip-forward time duration forthe media asset has previously been set. If control circuitry 304determines that a skip-forward time duration has been set, controlcircuitry 304 may proceed to skip forward through media asset 508immediately, without determining whether any other input is received,based on the previously set skip-forward time duration.

FIG. 9 shows a plot of crowdsourced data used for determining anexpected overshoot value, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. The playback of media asset 508 between minute 16 and 19, asmeasured from the start of playback of media asset 508, is depicted ontimeline 922. The location in the playback of media asset 508 at themoment when control circuitry 304 receives a request to skip forwardthrough media asset 508 is depicted as location 924 on timeline 922.

In some embodiments, at location 924 (e.g., a specific time betweenminute 16 and minute 17 as measured from the start of playback of mediaasset 508), control circuitry 304 receives input from a user specifyinga time duration to associate with a skip-forward command. For example,control circuitry 304 determines based on the input that the user wishesto skip forward to location 908 (e.g., a specific time between minutes18 and 19 as measured from the start of playback of media asset 508).

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines an expectedovershoot value to associate with the skip-forward command usingcrowdsourced data. For example, control circuitry 304 connects to mediaguidance data source 418 using communications network 414 to query acrowdsourcing database containing crowdsourced data associated withspecific media assets. For example, in the case of media asset 508, thecrowdsourcing database contains data based on commands issued by eachuser that viewed media asset 508, as well as timestamps associated withthe start and end locations of each command, with respect to thebeginning of playback of media asset 508. Such commands may includeskip-forward commands, skip-back commands, pause commands, playcommands, and the like. Control circuitry 304 may collect crowdsourcingdata from each user that has previously viewed media assets from mediacontent source 416 using user television equipment 402, user computerequipment 404, and wireless user communications device 406, by way ofcommunications network 414.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines all entries in thecrowdsourcing database that contain data detailing skip-forwardoperations ending within a time interval 918 for searching crowdsourcedovershoot offset data in media asset 508. Control circuitry 304 definesthe time interval 918 for searching crowdsourced overshoot offset datato identify only those skip-forward operations crowdsourced in mediaasset 508 which terminated reasonably close in time to the user'sskip-forward location 908. Control circuitry 304 may define the timeinterval for searching crowdsourced overshoot offset data in variousways. For example, control circuitry 304 calculates the time intervalfor searching crowdsourced overshoot offset data as the average timeduration of all rewind operations logged in the crowdsourcing databaseoccurring in media asset 508 (e.g., two minutes and ten seconds) inwhich the rewind operation is preceded by a skip-forward operation.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 identifies all skip-forwardoperations that had terminated within the determined time interval 918,T_(int) for searching crowdsourced overshoot offset data. Additionally,from the identified set of skip-forward operations, control circuitry304 may identify only those skip-forward operations which are associatedwith a rewind operation taking place immediately after each skip-forwardoperations. For example, control circuitry 304 determines a first rewindoperation 902, associated with a first skip-forward end location 910 anda rewind end location 920. Control circuitry 304 may further identify asecond rewind operation 928, associated with a second skip-forward endlocation 904 and a rewind end location 916, a third rewind operation926, associated with a third skip-forward end location 914 and a rewindend location 916, as well as a fourth rewind operation 912, associatedwith a fourth skip-forward end location 906, and a rewind end location916.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 identifies, based oncrowdsourcing data associated with media asset 508, each location in themedia asset 508 to which users frequently rewind, having previouslyskipped forward to a location in media asset 508 that is within thedetermined time interval 918 T_(int). This location may signify a changein the scene, the start or end of a block of commercials, or any otherevent, the occurrence of which may be of interest to the user. Controlcircuitry 304 may utilize various clustering algorithms to identify alocation or range of locations in media asset 508 to which usersrewound, having previously skip-forwarded to a location within thedetermined time interval 918 for searching crowdsourced overshoot offsetdata. For example, control circuitry 304 forms a first cluster bydetermining that users who issued skip-forward operations terminating atlocations 914, 928, and 902, then proceeded to rewind through mediaasset 508 to a rewind end location 916. Similarly, control circuitry 304may form a second cluster by determining that a user who issued askip-forward operation ending at location 906 proceeded to rewindthrough media asset 508 to rewind end location 914.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines the cluster withthe greatest cluster significance value. A cluster significance valuemay indicate the number of crowdsourced skip-forward operations whichterminated at a given cluster. For example, control circuitry 304determines that the cluster significance value of the rewind endlocation 914 (e.g., corresponding to the terminating location of rewindoperation 902, 926, and 928) is equal to three, as three crowdsourcedrewind operations terminate at the cluster corresponding to rewind endlocation 920. Similarly, control circuitry 304 may determine that thecluster significance value of rewind end location 914 is equal to one,as only one crowdsourced rewind operation terminates at the clustercorresponding to rewind end location 920.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 calculates a new location inmedia asset 508 that is advanced from location 924 in the playback ofmedia asset 508, based on the skip-forward location 908 and the locationof the cluster with the greatest significance value. For example,control circuitry 304 determines that rewind end location 920 isassociated with a cluster with the greatest cluster significance value.Control circuitry 304 may then set the new location in media asset 508based on rewind end location 920.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in executing askip-forward operation, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. It should be noted that process 1000 or any step thereofcould be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS.3-6. For example, process 1000 may be executed by control circuitry 304(FIG. 3) as instructed by control circuitry implemented on userequipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order to execute askip-forward operation. In addition, one or more steps of process 1000may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment.

Process 1000 begins at 1002, where control circuitry 304, whilegenerating for display media asset 508 (e.g., an episode of the “The BigBang Theory”) on user equipment 502, receives input from a user inputinterface 310 specifying a time duration to associate with askip-forward command. Media asset 508 is, for example, broadcasttelevision video, Internet video, on-demand video, or video from anyother source. User equipment 502 may be user television equipment 402,user computer equipment 404 or wireless user communications device 406.Control circuitry 304 displays the time duration input window 504 inorder to instruct the user to specify a time duration forskip-forwarding through a media asset. The time duration input window504 displays selectable options allowing the user to specify askip-forward time duration. For example, time duration input windowdisplays a first option 512 (e.g., a one-minute time duration option), asecond option 506 (e.g., a five-minute time duration option), and athird option 510 (e.g., for allowing the user to manually select thetime duration). Based on the user selection of an option (e.g., secondoption 506), control circuitry 304 receives, by way of user inputinterface 310, an input specifying an exact time duration to associatewith a skip-forward command (e.g., five minutes).

At 1004, control circuitry 304 stores the skip-forward time duration. Inone example, control circuitry 304 stores the time duration in storage308, such as a hard disk associated with a user equipment device 502.Furthermore, control circuitry 304 associates the received time durationwith media asset 508 that control circuitry 304 is generating fordisplay. For example, control circuitry 304 associates a duration oftime input of five minutes with a media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of“The Big Bang Theory”). When storing the time duration, controlcircuitry 304 associates a genre (e.g., “comedy series”) correspondingto the media asset 508 (e.g., a streamed episode of “The Big BangTheory”). In a different example, control circuitry 304 stores thereceived time duration in storage 308, as part of a user profileassociated with the user.

At 1006, control circuitry 304 receives a skip-forward command duringplayback of media asset 508. For example, after viewing media asset 508(e.g., the episode of “The Big Bang Theory”) for three minutes, the userencounters a block of commercials in the playback of the media asset508. As the user may be uninterested in viewing the block of commercialsand instead may want to return to viewing the episode as quickly aspossible, the user is able to issue a skip-forward command. Controlcircuitry 304 detects the skip-forward command by monitoring user inputinterface 310, which, in some embodiments is a remote control whichcontrol circuitry 304 has connected to via communications network 414.For example, control circuitry 304 detects, at a time 646 (e.g., threeminutes following the start of media asset playback) that the user hasdepressed the button corresponding to the skip-forward operation on aremote control. In response to receiving a skip-forward command from theuser, control circuitry 304 displays a first informative message 664(e.g., indicating that the media asset will be advanced by fiveminutes).

At 1008, control circuitry 304 retrieves the user-specified timeduration. For example, upon receiving the skip-forward command, controlcircuitry 304 reads data stored in storage 308 to determine theuser-specified time duration associated with media asset 508 anddetermines that the skip-forward time duration is set to five minutes.In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 determines whether storage308 contains the user-specified time duration associated with mediaasset 508 currently being generated for display on equipment device 502.In some embodiments, should control circuitry 304 determine that auser-specified time duration has not been associated with the mediaasset 508 currently being viewed, control circuitry 304 determineswhether storage 308 contains a user-specified time duration that may beapplied as a default to any asset without an associated user-specifiedtime duration.

At 1010, control circuitry 304 determines the expected overshoot value.For example, control circuitry 304 queries a media guidance data source422 using communications network 414 to determine that the averageduration of time by which users viewing the media asset (e.g., theepisode of “The Big Bang Theory”) tend to overshoot after invoking askip-forward command (e.g., fast forwarding) is equal to one minute.Control circuitry 304 determines this duration of time by analyzing alog listing the duration of each rewind operation issued by each usersubsequent to (and in close proximity to) a skip-forward command. Inthis example, control circuitry 304 interprets an immediate rewindoperation following a skip-forward operation as evidence of a userattempting to compensate for a resultant overshoot. In another example,control circuitry 304 determines an expected overshoot value based ondata contained in a user profile associated with the user, which is bestored in storage 308. Control circuitry 304 analyzes the user profileand determines that the user profile contains a log of each rewindoperation which follows a skip-forward operation. Control circuitry 304determines an expected overshoot value by averaging a set or subset oftime durations associated with rewind operations following skip-forwardoperations. In another example, control circuitry 304, using dataretrieved from media guidance data source 422, determines that mediaasset 508 is part of a series. The control circuitry may then determinethe average overshoot value associated with one or more episodes of theseries. Control circuitry 304 may also utilize crowd-sourcing todetermine an expected overshoot value. In a last example, controlcircuitry 304 receives, from media guidance data source 422, the averageduration of time by which users viewing the media asset tend toovershoot after invoking a skip-forward command.

At 1012, control circuitry 304 calculates a new location in the mediaasset 508 that is advanced from a current location based on theuser-specified time duration and the expected overshoot value. Forexample, while generating a media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of “TheBig Bang Theory”) for display, control circuitry 304 determines that theuser-specified time duration has been set to five minutes. Controlcircuitry 304 then determines that the expected overshoot value is setto one minute. Control circuitry 304 then calculates a new location inthe media asset 508 by subtracting the expected overshoot value (e.g.,one minute) from the user-specified time duration (e.g., five minutes),thus setting the new location based on the result of the calculation(e.g., four minutes from the current location in the media asset).

At 1014, control circuitry 304 plays back the media asset 508 startingfrom the new location at a speed greater than normal playback speed. Forexample, after control circuitry 304 determines the new location (e.g.,a location that is four minutes advanced in the media asset), controlcircuitry 304 skips to the new location. Control circuitry 304 thencontinues playing back media asset 508 at a speed greater than normalplayback speed (e.g., a speed twice as fast as normal playback speed)until an input from the user is received. Alternatively, controlcircuitry 304 continues playback of media asset 508 at the greater speeduntil a location corresponding to the skip-forward time duration, asmeasured from the first time 602, and upon reaching the locationcorresponding to the skip-forward time duration, control circuitry 304,without further user input, resumes playback of media asset 508 at anormal speed.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 10 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determininga skip-forward time duration when executing a skip-forward operation ina media asset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Itshould be noted that process 1100 or any step thereof could be performedon, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-6. For example,process 1100 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) asinstructed by control circuitry implemented on user equipment 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order to determine a skip-forward time durationwhen executing a skip-forward operation in a media asset. In addition,one or more steps of process 1100 may be incorporated into or combinedwith one or more steps of any other process or embodiment.

Process 1100 begins at 1102, where control circuitry 304, whilegenerating for display media asset 508 (e.g., an episode of the “The BigBang Theory”) on user equipment 502, receives input from a user inputinterface 310 to skip forward through media asset 508.

At 1104, control circuitry 304 determines whether a skip-forward timeduration has been previously set for media asset 508. For example,control circuitry 304 queries a database stored in storage 308 toidentify a profile associated with the user. The profile contains alisting of media assets that the user had previously watched, and theskip-forward time durations for each media asset in which controlcircuitry 304 received and stored a user request for setting askip-forward time duration. Should control circuitry 304 determine thata skip-forward time duration had previously been stored for media asset508, process 1100 continues to 1112.

If control circuitry 304 determines that a skip-forward time durationhas not been previously set for media asset 508, process 1100 continuesto 1106. At 1106, control circuitry 304 determines whether a defaultskip-forward time duration is available. Control circuitry 304 uses thedefault skip-forward time duration if the user does not elect to input atime-duration for an asset. For example, control circuitry queries adatabase stored in storage 308 to identify a profile associated with theuser. The profile contains default settings that control circuitry 304will use when a media asset specific setting has not been set by theuser. For example, control circuitry 304 determines that a default timeduration setting is saved in the user profile, and that it is set tothree minutes. Should control circuitry 304 determine that a defaultskip-forward time duration is available, process 1100 continues to 1112.

If control circuitry 304 determines that a skip-forward time durationhas not been previously set for media asset 508, process 1110 continuesto 1108. At 1108, control circuitry 304 waits for user input of timeduration. Control circuitry 304 periodically checks to determine whethera time duration has been entered. For example, control circuitry 304detects that a time duration has been entered when the user selectsoption 644 (e.g., the option corresponding to a five-minute timeduration). If a time duration input is received, process 1100 continuesto 1112. If a time duration input is not received, process 1100continues to 1108.

At 1112, control circuitry 304 determines the expected overshoot value.For example, control circuitry 304 queries a media guidance data source422 using communications network 414 to determine that the averageduration of time by which users viewing the media asset (e.g., theepisode of “The Big Bang Theory”) tend to overshoot after invoking askip-forward command (e.g., fast forwarding) is equal to one minute.Control circuitry determines this duration of time by analyzing a loglisting the duration of each rewind operation issued by each usersubsequent to (and in close proximity to) a skip-forward command. Inthis example, control circuitry 304 interprets an immediate rewindoperation following a skip-forward operation as evidence of a userattempting to compensate for a resultant overshoot. In another example,control circuitry 304 determines an expected overshoot value based ondata contained in a user profile associated with the user, which is bestored in storage 308. Control circuitry 304 analyzes the user profileand determines that the user profile contains a log of each rewindoperation which follows a skip-forward operation. Control circuitry 304determines an expected overshoot value by averaging a set or subset oftime durations associated with rewind operations following skip-forwardoperations. Alternatively, control circuitry 304 utilizes crowd-sourcingto determine an expected overshoot value.

At 1114, control circuitry 304 calculates a new location in the mediaasset 508 that is advanced from a current location based on theuser-specified time duration and the expected overshoot value. Forexample, while generating a media asset 508 (e.g., the episode of “TheBig Bang Theory”) for display, control circuitry 304 determines that theuser-specified time duration has been set to five minutes. Controlcircuitry 304 then determines that the expected overshoot value is setto one minute. Control circuitry 304 then calculates a new location inthe media asset 508 by subtracting the expected overshoot value (e.g.,one minute) from the user-specified time duration (e.g., five minutes),thus setting the new location based on result of the calculation (e.g.,four minutes from the current location in the media asset).

At 1116, control circuitry 304 skips forward to the new locationdetermined at 1114. For example, control circuitry 304 determines thenew location corresponds to skip-forward end location 666.

At 1118, control circuitry 304 plays back the media asset 508, resumingfrom the new location at a speed greater than normal playback speed. Forexample, after control circuitry 304 determines the new location (e.g.,a location that is four minutes advanced in the media asset 508),control circuitry 304 skips to the new location. Control circuitry 304then continues playing back media asset 508 at a speed greater thannormal playback speed (e.g., a speed twice as fast as normal playbackspeed) until an input from the user is received.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 11 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 11 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determininga skip-forward time duration based on crowdsourced data, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process1200 or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any ofthe devices shown in FIGS. 3-6. For example, process 1200 may beexecuted by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by controlcircuitry implemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4) inorder to determine a skip-forward time duration based on crowdsourceddata. In addition, one or more steps of process 1200 may be incorporatedinto or combined with one or more steps of any other process orembodiment.

Process 1200 begins at 1202, where control circuitry 304, whilegenerating for display media asset 508 (e.g., an episode of the “The BigBang Theory”) on user equipment 502, receives input from a user inputinterface 310 indicating that the user wishes to execute a skip-forwardcommand in order to advance playback of media asset 508. Media asset 508is, for example, broadcast television video, Internet video, on-demandvideo, or video from any other source. User equipment 502 may be usertelevision equipment 402, user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406.

At 1204 control circuitry 304 determines whether a skip-forward timeduration for media asset 508 is specified. Control circuitry 304 queriesa database of storage 308 in order to determine whether a skip-forwardtime duration for media asset 508 has previously been set by the user.Should control circuitry 304 determine that a skip-forward time durationis specified, process 1200 continues to 1212. If, on the other hand,control circuitry 304 determines that a skip-forward time duration formedia asset 508 is unavailable (e.g., because it has not been set forthe particular media asset being viewed), process 1200 continues to1206.

At 1212, control circuitry 304 determines the skip-forward timeduration. For example, control circuitry 304 queries a profile stored instorage 308 to determine the time duration associated with media asset508. Process 1200 continues to 1218.

At 1206, control circuitry 304 cross-references the name of the mediaasset 508 (e.g., a streamed episode of “The Big Bang Theory”), with adatabase storing skip-forward data. For example, control circuitry 304connects to media guidance data source 418 using communications network414 to query a database stored in media guidance data source 418 listingcrowdsourcing data for media assets. Process 1200 then continues to1208.

At 1208, control circuitry 304 cross-references the full name of mediaasset 508 (e.g., “The Big Bang Theory, Season 7, Episode 1”) todetermine whether any crowdsourcing skip-forward data associated withmedia asset 508 can be identified. Should control circuitry 304determine that crowdsourcing skip-forward data associated with mediaasset 508 is available in the database stored in media guidance datasource 418, process 1200 continues to 1214. Otherwise, if controlcircuitry 304 does not identify any available crowdsourcing data formedia asset 508, process 1200 continues to 1210.

At 1214, control circuitry 304 averages all available crowdsourcingskip-forward data for media asset 508 in order to determine askip-forward duration. For example, control circuitry 304 queries adatabase stored in media guidance data source 418 to identify allcrowdsourcing records associated with media asset 508 that containskip-forward data. Control circuitry 304 then determines a count of thenumber of records available, and a sum of all skip-forward timedurations. Finally, control circuitry 304 determines the averageskip-forward time duration for media asset 508 by dividing the sum ofall skip-forward time durations by the determined count.

At 1210, control circuitry 304 determines the genre of media asset 508.Control circuitry 304 uses communications network 414 to connect tomedia guidance data source 418 in order to query a database containing acollection of data for each media asset. For example, the databasecontains a title, producer, release year, and genre for each mediaasset. Control circuitry 304 queries the genre of media asset 508 (e.g.,a recording of an episode of “The Big Bang Theory”). For example,control circuitry 304 determines, using media guidance data source 418,that the genre of media asset 508 (e.g., a recording of an episode of“The Big Bang Theory”) is “comedy series.” Process 1200 then continuesto 1216.

At 1216, control circuitry 304 determines the average skip-forwardduration for media assets in the determined genre. Control circuitry 304queries a database stored in media guidance data source 418 to identifyall crowdsourcing records associated with genre “comedy series” thatcontain skip-forward data. Control circuitry 304 then determines a countof the number of records available, and a sum of all skip-forward timedurations. Finally, control circuitry 304 determines the averageskip-forward time duration for media assets associated with the “comedyseries” genre by dividing the sum of all skip-forward time durations bythe determined count. Control circuitry 304 then sets the skip-forwardtime duration for media asset 508 based on the determined average.Process 1200 then continues to 1218.

At 1218, control circuitry 304 skips forward by the determined duration.For example, control circuitry 304 determines that the skip-forward timeduration is five minutes. Control circuitry 304 then identifies thecurrent playback location of media asset 508.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 12 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 12 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determiningan overshoot offset using crowdsourced data, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. It should be noted that process 1300 orany step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 3-6. For example, process 1300 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by control circuitryimplemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order todetermine an overshoot offset using crowdsourced data. In addition, oneor more steps of process 1300 may be incorporated into or combined withone or more steps of any other process or embodiment.

At 1302, control circuitry 304 determines a skip-forward value. Forexample, at location 924 (e.g., a specific time between minute 16 andminute 17 as measured from the start of playback of media asset 508),control circuitry 304 receives input from a user specifying a timeduration to associate with a skip-forward command. For example, controlcircuitry 304 receives an input from the user specifying that theskip-forward value should be set to one minute twenty seconds.

At 1304, control circuitry 304 determines the skip-forward location inmedia asset 508 based on the current location. For example, controlcircuitry 304 determines, based on the input, that the user wishes toskip forward by one minute twenty seconds, a skip-forward location 908(e.g., a specific time between minute 18 and 19 as measured from thestart of playback of media asset 508).

At 1306, control circuitry determines whether crowdsourcing data isavailable for media asset 508. For example, control circuitry 304connects to media guidance data source 418 using communications network414 to query a crowdsourcing database containing crowdsourced dataassociated with specific media assets. For example, in the case of mediaasset 508, the crowdsourcing database contains data based on commandsissued by each user that viewed media asset 508, as well as timestampsassociated with the start and end locations of each command, withrespect to the beginning of playback of media asset 508. Such commandsinclude skip-forward commands, skip-back commands, pause commands, playcommands, and the like. Based on the query, control circuitry 304determines whether any crowdsourced data is available for media asset508. Should control circuitry determine that crowdsourcing data isunavailable for media asset 508, process 1300 continues to 1322.Otherwise, if control circuitry determines the presence of crowdsourceddata for media asset 508, process 1300 continues to 1308.

At 1322, control circuitry 304 determines an average overshoot offsetvalue for the user. For example, control circuitry queries a userprofile stored in storage 308 to determine the average amount of timethat the user rewinds a media asset immediately, or nearly immediately,after skip-forwarding though a media asset. Process 1300 then continuesto 1326.

At 1308, control circuitry 304 determines a time interval for searchingcrowdsourcing overshoot offset data. Control circuitry 304 determinesall entries in the crowdsourcing database which contain data detailingskip-forward operations ending within a time interval 918 for searchingcrowdsourced overshoot offset data in media asset 508. Control circuitry304 defines the time interval 918 for searching crowdsourced overshootoffset data to identify only those crowdsourced skip-forward operationsassociated with media asset 508 which terminated in reasonable temporalproximity to the user's skip-forward location 908. Control circuitry 304defines the time interval for searching crowdsourced overshoot offsetdata in various ways. For example, control circuitry 304 calculates thetime interval for searching crowdsourced overshoot offset data as theaverage time duration of all rewind operations logged in thecrowdsourcing database occurring in media asset 508 (e.g., two minutesand ten seconds) in which the rewind operation is preceded by askip-forward operation.

At 1310, control circuitry 304 determines whether the number ofovershoot offset data points is above a minimum threshold. For example,control circuitry 304 determines that unless at least four overshootoffset data points are available, the crowdsourced data is too limitedto determine an expected overshoot value based on the crowdsourced data.The threshold may be static for all media assets (e.g., it may be set tofour for all media assets), or control circuitry 304 may dynamically setthe threshold based on various criteria, such as the length of the mediaasset, the popularity of the media asset, and the like. If controlcircuitry 304 determines that the number of overshoot offset data pointsis above a minimum threshold, process 1300 continues to 1312. Shouldcontrol circuitry 304 determine that the number of overshoot offset datapoints is below a minimum threshold, process 1300 continues to 1324.

At 1312, control circuitry 304 determines a number of overshoot offsetclusters within the time interval for searching crowdsourcing overshootoffset data. For example, control circuitry 304 determines a firstrewind operation 902, associated with a first skip-forward end location910 and a rewind end location 920. Control circuitry 304 furtheridentifies a second rewind operation 928, associated with a secondskip-forward end location 904 and a rewind end location 916, a thirdrewind operation 926, associated with a third skip-forward end location914 and a rewind end location 916, as well as a fourth rewind operation912, associated with a fourth skip-forward end location 906, and arewind end location 916. Control circuitry 304 then clusters the rewindend locations. For example, control circuitry 304 forms a first clusterby determining that users who issued skip-forward operations terminatingat locations 914, 928, and 902, then proceeded to rewind through mediaasset 508 to a rewind end location 916. Similarly, control circuitry 304forms a second cluster by determining that a user who issued askip-forward operation ending at location 906 proceeded to rewindthrough media asset 508 to rewind end location 914.

At 1314, control circuitry 304 determines whether at least one clustersignificance value is greater than a predetermined threshold. A clustersignificance value indicates the number of crowdsourced skip-forwardoperations which terminated at a given cluster. For example, controlcircuitry 304 determines that the cluster significance value of therewind end location 914 (e.g., corresponding to the rewind operation902, 926, and 928) is equal to three, as three crowdsourced rewindoperations terminate at the cluster corresponding to rewind end location920. Similarly, control circuitry 304 determines that the clustersignificance value of rewind end location 914 is equal to one, as onlyone crowdsourced rewind operation terminates at the clustercorresponding to rewind end location 920. Control circuitry determineswhether a significance value of a cluster is greater than apredetermined threshold. For example, the predetermined threshold is setto two, indicating that two users who had skip-forwarded to a locationin media asset 508 within the determined time interval for searchingcrowdsourcing overshoot offset data then issued a rewind command to thesame location in media asset 508. Control circuitry 304 may set thepredetermined threshold based on a static value (e.g., the predeterminedthreshold is always set to two), or based on a dynamic value. Forexample, control circuitry 304 sets the predetermined thresholddynamically based on various criteria, such as the length of the mediaasset, the popularity of the media asset, and the like. Should controlcircuitry 304 determine that at least one cluster significance value isgreater than the predetermined threshold, process 1300 continues to1314. Otherwise, process 1300 continues to 1324.

At 1324, control circuitry 304 averages crowdsourced overshoot offset inthe determined time interval to determine average crowdsourced overshootoffset. For example, control circuitry 304 averages the overshootoffsets associated with rewind operations 902, 928, 926, and 914.

At 1316, control circuitry 304 selects the cluster with the greatestcluster significance value. For example, control circuitry selects thefirst cluster.

At 1318, control circuitry 304 determines the location of the cluster.For example, control circuitry 304 determines that the first cluster,which is the cluster with the greatest significance value, is situatedat location 920.

At 1320, control circuitry 304 determines the overshoot offset from theskip-forward location to the location of the first cluster. For example,control circuitry 304 determines the difference in time between thelocation 920 of the first cluster, and the user's skip-forward location908.

At 1326, control circuitry 304 applies the overshoot offset toskip-forward location in media asset 508. For example, control circuitry304 rewinds to location 920.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 13 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 13 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10, FIG. 11,FIG. 12, and FIG. 13 may be used with any other embodiment of thisdisclosure. In addition, the steps and descriptions described inrelation to FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. 13 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincreate the speed of the system or method.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the present invention may be embodied in a computer programproduct that includes a computer-usable and/or readable medium. Forexample, such a computer-usable medium may consist of a read-only memorydevice, such as a CD-ROM disk or conventional ROM devices, or a randomaccess memory, such as a hard drive device or a computer diskette,having a computer-readable program code stored thereon. It should alsobe understood that methods, techniques, and processes involved in thepresent invention may be executed using processing circuitry. Forinstance, detection of a social media interaction associated with a usermay be performed by processing circuitry, e.g., by processing circuitry306 of FIG. 3. The processing circuitry, for instance, may be a generalpurpose processor, a customized integrated circuit (e.g., an ASIC), or afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) within user equipment 300, mediacontent source 416, or media guidance data source 418. For example, themedia asset metadata as described herein may be stored in, and retrievedfrom, storage 308 of FIG. 3, or media guidance data source 418 of FIG.4. Furthermore, processing circuitry, or a computer program, may updatesettings associated with a user, such as user profile attributes,updating the information stored within storage 308 of FIG. 3 or mediaguidance data source 418 of FIG. 4.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted, the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to,or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling media asset playback,the method comprising: playing back a media asset at a normal playbackspeed; receiving a skip-forward command while the media asset is beingplayed back; in response to receiving the skip-forward command:accessing a time duration associated with the skip-forward command;determining a new location in the media asset based on the timeduration; skipping forward to the new location; and without furtherinput, resuming the playback at the new location at a speed greater thanthe normal playback speed.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving an input specifying a user-specified time duration toassociate with the skip-forward command; and in response to receivingthe input specifying the user-specified time duration: identifying, in adatabase, a media asset record associated with the media asset;determining, based on the media asset record, a category associated withthe media asset; and storing, in the database, an association betweenthe user-specified time duration and the determined category associatedwith the media asset.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:receiving a second skip-forward command while a second media asset isbeing played back, wherein the second media asset is associated with thedetermined category; retrieving the user-specified time durationassociated with the determined category; and in response to receivingthe second skip forward command, skipping forward to a second newlocation in the second media asset based on the retrieved time duration.4. The method of claim 2, wherein skipping forward to the new locationfurther comprises: retrieving, from memory, the user-specified timeduration; determining whether the new location in the media assetovershoots an end time of an advertisement; in response to determiningthat the new location overshoots the end time of the advertisement:calculating an expected overshoot value resulting from the skip forwardcommand; determining an updated location in the media asset bysubtracting the expected overshoot value from the new location.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein determining the expected overshoot valuecomprises at least one of: (i) calculating an average of user overshootsassociated with skip-forward commands issued during the playback of themedia asset, wherein a user overshoot is calculated as an amount of timethe user rewinds after issuing each skip-forward command, (ii)calculating an average of user overshoots for media assets of a samegenre as the media asset, wherein the same genre of the media asset isdetermined based on metadata associated with the media asset, (iii)calculating an average of overshoots for a plurality of media assetsviewed by the user, wherein the plurality of media assets is determinedby querying a user profile associated with the user, and (iv) retrievinga default value.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining theexpected overshoot value further comprises: calculating a user overshootbased on as an amount of time a plurality of users rewinds after issuingrespective skip-forward commands.
 7. The method of claim 2 wherein theplayback of the media asset occurs on a first device, and the timeduration is received from a second device.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, from the user, a second skip-forwardcommand from the user during a playback of a second media asset; sendinga query to a database for a time duration associated with a media assetrecord of the second media asset; determining, based on results of thequery, that the time duration has not been set for the second mediaasset; retrieving, from memory, at least one of a default time durationand a last-used time duration; determining an expected overshoot valueassociated with the second media asset; calculating a second newlocation in the second media asset that is advanced from a currentlocation in the second media asset based on the at least one of thedefault time duration, the last-used time duration, and the expectedovershoot value associated with the second media asset; and controllingplayback of the second media asset so that the playback resumes from thesecond new location in the second media asset at a speed greater thanthe normal playback speed.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinskipping-forward to the new location further comprises: determining, atthe new location of the media asset, that content of the media asset ispart of an advertisement; calculating an updated location advanced fromthe new location, wherein the updated location is not part of theadvertisement; and controlling the playback of the media asset so thatthe playback resumes from the updated location.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein receiving the skip-forward command during the playback of themedia asset further comprises: detecting a sequence of key pressescomprising: (i) a depression of a fast-forward button, and (ii) adepression of a digit key.
 11. A system for controlling media assetplayback, the system comprising: an input interface; and a controlcircuitry configured to: play back a media asset at a normal playbackspeed; receive a skip-forward command while the media asset is beingplayed back; and in response to receiving the skip-forward command,access a time duration associated with the skip-forward command,determine a new location in the media asset based on the time duration,skip forward to a new location and, without further input, resume theplayback at the new location at a speed greater than the normal playbackspeed.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to: receive an input specifying a user-specified timeduration to associate with the skip-forward command; and in response toreceiving the input specifying the user-specified time duration:identify, in a database, a media asset record associated with the mediaasset; determine, based on the media asset record, a category associatedwith the media asset; and store, in the database, an association betweenthe user-specified time duration and the determined category associatedwith the media asset.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: receive a second skip-forwardcommand while a second media asset is being played back, wherein thesecond media asset is associated with the determined category; retrievethe user-specified time duration associated with the determinedcategory; and in response to receiving the second skip forward command,skip forward to a second new location in the second media asset based onthe retrieved time duration.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to skip forward to the newlocation by: retrieving, from memory, the user-specified time duration;determining whether the new location in the media asset overshoots anend time of an advertisement; in response to determining that the newlocation overshoots the end time of the advertisement: calculating anexpected overshoot value resulting from the skip forward command;determining an updated location in the media asset by subtracting theexpected overshoot value from the new location.
 15. The system of claim14, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine theexpected overshoot value using at least one of: (i) calculating anaverage of user overshoots associated with skip-forward commands issuedduring the playback of the media asset, wherein a user overshoot iscalculated as an amount of time the user rewinds after issuing eachskip-forward command, (ii) calculating an average of user overshoots formedia assets of a same genre as the media asset, wherein the same genreof the media asset is determined based on metadata associated with themedia asset, (iii) calculating an average of overshoots for a pluralityof media assets viewed by the user, wherein the plurality of mediaassets is determined by querying a user profile associated with theuser, and (iv) retrieving a default value.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine theexpected overshoot value by: calculating a user overshoot based on as anamount of time a plurality of users rewinds after issuing respectiveskip-forward commands.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: receive, from the user, a secondskip-forward command from the user during a playback of a second mediaasset; send a query to a database for a time duration associated with amedia asset record of the second media asset; determine, based onresults of the query, that the time duration has not been set for thesecond media asset; retrieve, from memory, at least one of a defaulttime duration and a last-used time duration; determine an expectedovershoot value associated with the second media asset; calculate asecond new location in the second media asset that is advanced from acurrent location in the second media asset based on the at least one ofthe default time duration, the last-used time duration, and the expectedovershoot value associated with the second media asset; and controlplayback of the second media asset so that the playback resumes from thesecond new location in the second media asset at a speed greater thanthe normal playback speed.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to skip-forward to the newlocation by: determining, at the new location of the media asset, thatcontent of the media asset is part of an advertisement; calculating anupdated location advanced from the new location, wherein the updatedlocation is not part of the advertisement; and controlling the playbackof the media asset so that the playback resumes from the updatedlocation.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to receive the skip-forward command during theplayback of the media asset by: detecting a sequence of key pressescomprising: (i) a depression of a fast-forward button, and (ii) adepression of a digit key.
 20. A method for controlling media assetplayback, the method comprising: playing back a media asset at a normalplayback speed; receiving a skip-forward command while the media assetis being played back; in response to the skip-forward command: accessinga time duration associated with the skip-forward command; determining anew location in the media asset based on the time duration; determiningwhether the new location in the media asset overshoots an end time of anadvertisement; in response to determining that the new locationovershoots the end time of the advertisement: calculating an expectedovershoot value resulting from the skip forward command; determining anupdated location in the media asset by subtracting the expectedovershoot value from the new location; skipping forward to the updatedlocation; and without further input, resuming the playback at theupdated location at a speed greater than the normal playback speed.